Today marks Earth Day.
Celebrated every year on April 22, Earth Day is the largest environmental event in the world. More than six million Canadians — including nearly every school-aged child — participate in an Earth Day activity in their communities.
Earth Day Canada said it partners with and supports hundreds of organizations across the country, as they engage Canadians in annual celebrations of this special day.
The Earth needs our help all year long, said Earth Day Canada.
Founded in 1990, Earth Day Canada is a national environmental charity that offers free, year-round, award-winning programs to educate and inspire Canadians of all ages, backgrounds and sectors to reach local environmental solutions. Its mission is to foster and celebrate environmental respect, action and behaviour change that lessens our impact on the earth.
Locally, there are a number of events taking place to celebrate Earth Day.
Rainbow Schools are doing the following:
Adamsdale Public School
The “Me To We” Club at Adamsdale Public School will host an assembly on April 22 at 1:45 p.m. to kickstart Earth Week. Each classroom will participate in an Earth Hour initiative from 2-3 p.m. Students will raise awareness about ways to celebrate and take care of the Earth and will participate in litterless lunches for the entire week. Adamsdale will host a community cleanup on Friday, April 25 at 1:45 pm.
Alexander Public School
Residents of L’Arche Sudbury will join with students at Alexander Public School on April 22 at 2 p.m. to clean up the schoolyard for spring.
Alexander Public School’s Grade 1/2 class will participate in Earth Day crafts by creating beaded necklaces with each colour representing the earth. The Grade 2/3 class will bring in gently used books to recycle. The Early Learning Kindergarten class will study paintings and create recycled art.
Students will also study the importance of recycling and sustainability. Each student will pledge a vow on what they promise to do to help the planet.
Assiginack Public School
In honour of Earth Day, Assiginack Public School students will learn that every idea and action they pursue for recycling helps heal and renew the planet. Students and staff will wear green and participate in a litterless lunch week.
Students will engage in an afternoon of Earth Day activities starting at 1:35 p.m. in the gym. Activities will include Earth-themed songs and drumming, a game of predator vs. prey tag, and a scavenger hunt. Students will sew reusable shopping bags from fabric remnants/scraps. They will also produce a school-wide media campaign for the litterless lunch week. The day will culminate with the school coming together to share songs as well as student art. The community is welcome to join in the events.
Carl A. Nesbitt Public School
Students in Grade 5 will display Earth Day recycle projects. The Eco Club will promote school-wide environmental awareness through announcements and will organize a schoolyard cleanup in conjunction with the Grade 5 science class (once the snow has melted).
Central Manitoulin Public School
Central Manitoulin Public School’s character trait for April is responsibility. To celebrate Earth Day, students will have the opportunity to learn about how they can be environmentally responsible.
In the morning on April 22, students will participate in a variety of outside activities specific to environmental education in Wagg's Park. In the afternoon, the school will come together for a community cleanup.
Charles C. McLean Public School
Students at Charles C. McLean Public School will launch a school-wide recycling program on Earth Day. The student council will deliver a presentation to each class and will trade the class garbage can for two recycling bins. Some classes will also participate in a community clean up.
Ernie Checkeris Public School
On Thursday, April 17 at 1:30 p.m., the Grade 2 class at Ernie Checkeris Public School painted a large Earth while singing “Les enfants de la terre” in honour of Earth Day.
Levack Public School
On April 22, Levack Public School students will participate in a schoolyard and community cleanup where they will collect waste along the side streets in the Levack and Onaping areas.
Lights will be turned off around the school to remind students of the importance of energy conservation. In an effort to increase awareness of packaging and waste reduction, students will also be encouraged to pack a litterless lunch on Earth Day.
Little Current Public School
In celebration of Earth Day, Little Current Public School students will take part in a series of workshops and eco-related activities between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., including a recycling relay race, Eco-Feud Jeopardy, a nature scavenger hunt and tree ring analysis.
S. Geiger Public School
Starting April 22, students and staff at S. Geiger Public School will participate in a littlerless lunch Earth Week Challenge.
Valley View Public School
Students and staff at Valley View Public School will collect used books for the third annual book exchange from April 22-25. Litterless lunch day will take place on Tuesday, April 22.
Walden Public School
Walden's Green Team will host Earth Week from April 22-25.
On Earth Day, students will participate in Battery Recycling Day and the annual Book Swap, where staff and students bring in books they no longer use to exchange for books brought in by others.
On Wednesday, April 23, a waste reduction assembly will take place 11:45 am.
Students and staff will take part in a Litterless Lunch Competition on Thursday, April 24. A prize will be awarded for the class with the highest number of reusable containers in their lunches.
Students and staff will make every effort to bike or walk to school on Friday, April 25.
Webbwood Public School
Students and staff will kick off a battery drive on Earth Day. All used batteries will be collected throughout April and May, and will be transported to a safe disposal site.
Students and staff will also be encouraged to bring litterless lunches and to engage in learning activities related to preserving the environment throughout the week.
SECONDARY SCHOOLS
Lively District Secondary School
Lively District Secondary School organizes a community cleanup that coincides with Earth Day. This activity will take place when the snow has melted.
Lockerby Composite School
On Earth Day, staff and students at Lockerby Composite School are encouraged to wear a sweater, as the heat will be turned down by two degrees.
On Wednesday, April 23, students and staff will conserve as much energy as possible. Teachers are being encouraged to lead their classes in natural light and will be mindful of the use of electronics.
Staff and students have been invited to carpool or walk to school on Thursday, April 24.
On Friday, April 25, funds will be raised to purchase new trees and flowers for the school grounds.
Throughout the week, a poster will be displayed in front of the school for students to sign and pledge their commitment to recycle, conserve energy, and continue to move towards sustainability.
Lockerby Composite School is officially a water bottle free school and no longer has water for sale in the cafeteria.
Meanwhile, the University of Sudbury and Sudbury’s École secondaire du Sacré-Coeur will highlight their common history and links during an event on April 22, for Earth Day.
Their collaboration will allow them to plant 100 trees, donated by Collège Boréal. This green event will begin at 10:30 a.m. on the grounds of École secondaire du Sacré-Coeur (261, Notre Dame Ave.).
Presentations pertaining to Earth Day will be given by Marcel Bénéteau, co-ordinator of the Folklore program at the University of Sudbury; Kevin FitzMaurice, chair of the Indigenous Studies Department at the University of Sudbury; and Mélanie Smits, Aboriginal Education Consultant at the Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario.
The collaboration between the two institutions is not a mere coincidence since they share a common history: in 1913, the Society of Jesus established a classic college for boys called Collège du Sacré-Coeur. Through the years, the Collège would become a centre of excellence in education for Franco-Ontarian youth and would take the name of University of Sudbury in 1957. The Collège itself closed its doors and ceased offering secondary school education in 1967. In recognition of the long-standing Catholic Francophone tradition of this historical site, the Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario opened in 2003 the new École secondaire du Sacré-Coeur on the very same grounds where the former college once stood.
